A man opened fire at a Walmart in Virginia: 6 people were killed, five were injured

An armed man opened fire at a Walmart store in Chesapeake, Virginia late on November 22. Six people were killed and at least five were injured. This is the latest incident in a wave of gun violence across the country. USAToday.

Photo: IStock

A man believed to be a store manager opened fire on people and then shot himself, reports with the BBC.

The Chesapeake Police Department responded to the report of the shooting around 22:15 p.m., and immediately police found confirmation of the bloody incident, Officer Leo Kosinski said at a briefing.

On the subject: In Massachusetts, an SUV drove into an Apple store: many injured, one person died

Footage appeared on the network in which an eyewitness, dressed in a Walmart uniform, describes what happened. He said he left the staff room, where the manager then entered and opened fire.

“Unfortunately, we lost several of our associates,” the man said, adding that he did not know how many of his colleagues were shot.

Leo Kosinski stated that the shooting is believed to have taken place inside the store and that the suspect acted alone.

For 35-40 minutes, rescue and tactical teams combed the store, taking life-saving measures, he said.
One woman said that her brother, a 20-year-old store worker, was shot dead just 10 minutes after he arrived at work. But she said her brother was able to talk to relatives and send text messages during the incident, adding that she was a little "comforted".

Another woman, named Joetta Jeffery, said her mother was inside the building when the attack happened and managed to send text messages. Geoffrey said her mother was unharmed but was in shock.

Mike Kafka, spokesman for Sentara Healthcare, said five Walmart patients are being treated at Norfolk General Hospital. Mayor Rick W. West praised the efforts of first responders.

“I am devastated by the senseless act of violence that occurred in our city last night,” West said. “Chesapeake is a close-knit community and we are all shocked by this news.”

The Chesapeake shooting is the latest incident to rock the country, coming just days after the famous shooting LGBTQ nightclub in Colorado Springs, Colorado, where five people were killed.

Earlier this month, three University of Virginia football players were killed and two others hospitalized in a campus shooting — the same day four University of Idaho students were found dead with multiple stab wounds.

The USA TODAY, Associated Press, and Northeastern University database, which has been tracking massacres since 2006, lists 40 massacres this year, down from the 45 that occurred in all of 2019. The database defines a massacre as the death of at least four people, not counting the killer.

In the Chesapeake, police tweeted that the convention center had been set up as a family reunion site. Among those gathered outside in the early hours of Nov. 23 was Camille Baggs, a former Walmart employee who said she hoped to learn the fate of some of her former colleagues she was unable to contact after the shooting.

"You don't think this is going to happen in your town, in your neighborhood, in your store, in your favorite store," Buggs, 58, said. “It really shocked me.”

Authorities have asked the public to stay away from the scene. The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives said it was helping with the investigation.

The Chesapeake is about 160 miles southeast of Richmond. Senator Mark Warner tweeted that he was "sickened by reports of yet another mass shooting, this time at a Walmart in Chesapeake."

State Senator Louise Lucas echoed Warner's sentiment, tweeting that she was "absolutely heartbroken that the last mass shooting in America happened at a Walmart store in my area."

A Walmart store in El Paso, Texas, was the site of one of the country's bloodiest attacks in 2019, when a Mexican gunman killed 22 people, according to police.

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Walmart released a statement on Twitter in the early hours of November 23: “We are devastated by this tragic event at our Chesapeake, Virginia store. We pray for those affected, the community and our partners. We work closely with law enforcement and we are focused on supporting our partners.”

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